Slumber looks for elusive stakes win
ELMONT, N.Y. – Late in his career, Slumber looks to get his first North American stakes victory when he returns from a seven-month layoff in Sunday’s $100,000 Bowl Game Stakes at Belmont Park.
A 6-year-old Britain-bred son of Cacique, Slumber has competed in five consecutive graded stakes, finishing third in the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida in February and third, beaten less than a length, in the Grade 2 Pan American on March 29, both at Gulfstream Park.
“A couple of those races he had a little bit of trouble,” trainer Bill Mott said.
Mott noted that in the Mac Diarmida, he got fanned out very wide. In the Pan American, Mott said Slumber “stayed on the inside, and he got stopped.”
Mott said Slumber was sent to Juddmonte Farms for a vacation and returned to him in August.
“I’m very happy with the way he’s training,” Mott said. “You always wish you had a little more time bringing one back. Hopefully, we’ve done enough with him.”
Key contenders
Slumber (Last 3 Beyers: 99-97-93)
◗ He showed the ability to fire fresh, winning a stakes-caliber allowance race at Saratoga in August 2013 off a yearlong layoff.
◗ While Slumber certainly has a class edge over his seven rivals, he could be victimized by a lack of pace in the 1 1/4-mile turf race.
“I think he can close off a moderate pace,” Mott said.
St. Albans Boy (Last 3 Beyers: 94-92-84)
◗ Giant’s Causeway gelding won a second-level allowance race at Saratoga in August and then came back to finish third, beaten three-quarters of a length, in the Laurel Turf Cup on Sept. 27.
“It was a 13-horse field, and we were stacked pretty wide, three or four wide down the backside, even wider around the turn,” trainer Kelly Rubley said. “He did hit the front and got caught at the wire.”
◗ Rubley is hoping that with a smaller field, St. Albans Boy won’t have as wide a trip, though he does break from the outside post.
◗ Rubley, who used to work for trainer Barclay Tagg in New York, oversees a string of horses at Fair Hill for trainer Jimmy Toner while managing her own four-horse stable. Rubley has won five races from 16 starters.
Sky Blazer (Last 3 Beyers: 98-94-80)
◗ Trained by Tagg, Sky Blazer finished second to Imagining in this race last year.
◗ Sky Blazer has just one win from his last 16 starts over the last two years, though he shows two bullet works over the Belmont turf.
Alakazan Alakazan (Last 3 Beyers: 86-85-84)
◗ Graham Motion trainee comes off a front-running victory in a first-level allowance race at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 17.
◗ Though he does not appear to measure up class-wise to Slumber or St. Albans Boy, he could be the lone speed in the field.